A roundup of ideas and projects from around the Institute
Jake Stewart, AOS Illustration ’26, was named the first place winner of an illustration contest for students, hosted by Pratt’s AOS Department and leading Italian legacy printer PdiPigna. Participants designed notebook covers and the winning notebook design is to be printed and sold commercially in a limited-edition release. As the winner, Stewart will earn a portion of commissions as well as the opportunity to work with an established art brand.
Visiting Associate Professor of Graduate Communications Design, Trustee Emeritus, and Pratt Legends Honoree Marc A. Rosen, MFA ’70, was interviewed for an article in Harper’s Bazaar India about perfume bottle artistry. “There are many moving parts to creating a perfume bottle, the ergonomics taking precedence over artistry at the designing stage. We take into account several factors—the demography, the marketing elements, and the competition—before designing the bottle,” he said. “The proportion of the bottle, whether glass can even be blown for intricate designs, creating a harmonious user experience, all of these elements come into play in bottle design.”
Philip Sorenson reviewed Adjunct Associate Professor Laura Henriksen’s debut poetry collection Laura’s Desires for the Los Angeles Review of Books. “Laura’s Desires is about seeing and being seen, not just by people but also by art itself. It’s about desire and media’s role in awakening, associating, and transforming it.”
MFA Fashion Collection + Communication students participated in a Zombie Workshop led by British artist Jeremy Hutchison. “The workshop, based on Hutchison’s work Dead White Man, aims to subvert the ideology of fast fashion by hijacking its aesthetics. Students concluded the workshop by packaging their zombies as toxic commodities, creating lookbooks, styling, video, and photography.”
Manman Li, MFA Digital and Interactive Arts ’23, received Bronze in Multimedia/Interactive Media in the 2024 International Design Awards for their project “Manipulate,” while Hanzhang Zhu, BFA Communications Design (Graphic Design) ’25, received Bronze in Multimedia/Brand Identity for their project “Mise Rice Wine rebranding.”
Shikai Huang, MArch ’22, and Hung-Ju Liu, MArch ’22, received the Emerging Architectural Design of the Year award in the 2024 International Design Awards for their project “Exploratorium,” while Rachel Guo, MArch ’25, and Nour El Choueiri, MArch ’25, received Gold in Other Architectural Designs/Conceptual Architectural Designs for their project “Lolux Care +.”
Five Industrial Design students were recognized in the 2024 International Design Awards: Sean Lin, MID ’24, received Silver in Personal & Lifestyle/Health & Wellness Products for his project “Resilience Strategy – The Vibroacoustic Vest”; Weiqi Revive Sun, MID ’25, received Silver in Conceptual Products/Office & Work for his project “Stretch Go”; Linghui Ding, MID ’25, received Silver in Conceptual Products/Electronics for her project “Flat”; Siyu Steven Xiao, BID ’24, won Bronze in Automotive & Transport for his project “MedDash”; and Jenny Shan, BID ’25, received Honorable Mention for her project “The World in My Kitchen.”
“Youth Participatory Politics: Understanding and Supporting Civic Engagement in the Social Media Era,” co-authored by Assistant Professor in the School of Information Ashley Lee, was published in Handbook of Children and Screens (Springer). Lee also participated in an invited workshop on Global Platform Accountability at New York University. The workshop was held to encourage social engagement in scholarship on global tech power and to generate transnational synergies between scholars and practitioners.
Judith Solodkin, visiting associate professor of fine arts, was interviewed for Christie’s. Solodkin talks about working with Louise Bourgeois, printmaking as collaboration, and being a woman in the arts in the ’70s. “I really love making prints, and I love doing it with artists. So as long as I could do that, I was very happy.”
Chair of Undergraduate Architecture Stephen Slaughter served as a juror for the SOM Foundation 2024 Robert L. Wesley Award and the ACSA Collaborative Practice Award. Slaughter reflected on the experience for the School of Architecture News Page: “This was the most difficult jury I have ever participated in. I found myself deeply moved by both the students’ essays and videos, wavering between the value of merit and the value of need. Seeing how accomplished, compelling, and beautiful the work was only made my deliberations more challenging.”
